Hair curling device



Nov. 19, 1957 'L. L. LERNER 2,813,532

HAIR CURLING DEVICE Filed May 19, 1954 LOU/S L. LERNER l 5 4T7'0RNEY INVENTOR.

HAIR CURLING DEVICE Louis L. Lerner, Chicago, Ill., assignor to The Gillette Company, Boston, Mass, a corporation of Delaware Application May 19, 1954, Serial No. 430,801

4 Claims. (Cl. 132-38) This invention relates to a non-metallic hair curling device such as a bobby pin or hairpin and pertains more specifically to an integral, one-piece, molded plastic bobby pin having superior hair retention properties.

One object of the invention is to provide a unitary, molded hair curling pin of improved design.

Another object is to provide a molded hair curling pin having improved hair retention properties,

A further object is to provide a molded hair curling pin especially adapted to hold pin curls while they are being set and of such design that it holds the wet hair firmly while, at the same time, by uniformly distributing the clamping pressure throughout the length of the pin, avoids crimp marks on the hair after removal of the pin.

Another object is to provide a hair curling pin as desribed above, having the ability to remain stationary on the curl in the position in which it is placed whether :i States Patent the hair is wet or dry, Without tendency to move laterally across the pin curl, thereby disarranging the curl configuration or sliding off the curl.

Still another object is to provide a hair curling pin as described above, which is easy to manipulate and apply, which holds firmly against accidental dislodgement, but which has no tendency to catch and break the hair.

Other and further objects will be apparent from the drawings and from the description which follows.

in the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of an embodiment of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view;

Fig. 3 is a view in horizontal section taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a view in side elevation of the embodiment of Fig. 1 as it appears in place on the hair;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the embodiment of Fig. l in place on a pin curl.

As shown in Fig. 1, the hair curling pin is a unitary, one-piece article of non-metallic material. It may be made by molding, die-cutting, etc. from a variety of materials such as vulcanized fiber, resin impregnated fibrous material, laminated and/ or resin impregnated paper, hard rubber ,or a variety of thermosetting or thermoplastic moldable materials, generally called plastic materials. Although a variety of plastic materials may be employed, polystyrene has been found most satisfactory for the purpose.

The hair curling pin comprises a shank 1t which is curved generally to conform to the shape of the head and a leg member 11 shorter than the shank having a substantially straight portion 12 extending the major part of its length, and slanting toward the shank, a portion 13 curving inwardly or toward the shank, a second substantially flat portion 14 in, or substantially in, contact with the shank on its under side when the parts are in closed position, and an outwardly turned tip 15 to facilitate spreading apart of the leg and shank. The leg and shank are joined at their root ends by a sharply curved neck member 16, which may be of thickened cross-section, the neck member as shown being curved along an arc of a circle extending through about of curvature and being tangent to the leg and the shank at its juncture therewith.

Both the shank and leg members diminish in width and may also diminish in thickness toward their outer ends With the outer end of the leg slightly narrower than the opposite portion of the shank, this feature tending to equalize the clamping pressure along the length of the shank and leg when they are spread apart as applied to the hair, thus eliminating excessive pressure on the portion of the hair tress disposed between the free ends of the leg and shank and minimizing formation of crimp marks on the hair tress during the setting operation.

In order to provide for secure retention of the pin in the wet hair, a plurality of tapered projections 17, 17 are provided along the inner faces of the leg and shank members in the form of low pyramids or cones having gently domed or rounded tops, the projections on one member being in staggered relation to those on the other member so that they intermesh when the two legs are pressed together. The projections 17 are of diminish ing height towards the free ends of the members so that, when the members are separated for insertion of a curl the resistance of the projections to passage of the curl toward the neck portion is lesser toward the free ends, as is desirable for ease of application. The outside edges 18, 18 of the neck member and of the root portions of the leg and shank are roughened so that the pin may be securely held by the fingers even when wet. The upper and lower surfaces of the leg and shank, and the outer surface of the neck are preferably smooth.

A pin or tooth 19 is provided, which projects forwardly from the inner face of the neck member midway between shank 10 and leg 11. Pin 19 terminates just short of the location of projections 17, and forms between its outer end and the nearest projections 17 a Y- shaped passage. Pin 19 provides greater stability for the bobby pin While in place on the hair, since it enters into the pin curl itself and by wedging the hair in the Y-shaped passage between itself, the nearest projections 17 and the adjacent portions of the shank, leg and neck, tend to prevent lateral movement of the hobby pin across the pin curl.

It has been found that best results are obtained when, as in the embodiment shown, the spacing between the leg and the shank decreases gradually toward the free end of the leg. As a result, when the shank and leg are spread apart and the pin is placed on the hair, as shown in Fig. 4, the shank and leg member are generally parallel to each other. Accordingly, when the pin is placed upon a pin curl, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the hair is uniformly distributed along the length of the shank and leg and the pressure exerted on the hair between the shank and leg is substantially the same, at any given point, as it is at every other point, thus minimizing any tendency to crimp or bend the hair sharply. Also, with the diminishing height of teeth, it will be seen that an entrance passage for the curl is provided which is substantially uniform in height but in which there is less obstruction to the hair passage adjacent the free ends.

I have found it desirable that the portion 14 of the leg member be in or substantially in contact with the opposite portion of the shank when the parts are in normal unstressed position as shown in Fig. 1 but that there be no, or substantially no, pressure of the parts against each other. Thus, in molding the pin, I prefer to set the plastic with the parts in touch or almost touching, so that such will be their normal position. Thus the pressure required to separate the parts at their free ends by a very small distance, such as the thickness of a single hair, is very slight, but increases gradually as the spacing between the free ends increases as they are opened or spread apart. By this means, the requisite clamping pressure is provided and yet the pin will not catch and break single hairs if the free ends close as the pin is being withdrawn from a curl.

Although I have herein described specific embodiments of my invention, I do not intend to limit myself solely thereto, but to include all of the variations and modifications within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A resilient hair curling pin comprising an elongated shank curved to conform generally to the shape of the head, a leg shorter than said shank, a sharply curved neck member connecting the roots of said shank and said leg, a plurality of projections on the inner face of said shank, a plurality of projections on the inner face of said leg arranged in staggered relation to and spaced from those on the shank longitudinally of the pin, said shank and leg inclining toward each other in the direction of their free ends and being normally in contact only adjacent the free end of said leg, said projections diminishing gradually in height toward the free ends of said shank and leg, and a pin projecting forwardly from the inner surface of the neck to adjacent the innermost projections.

2. A resilient hair curling pin comprising an elongated shank, a leg shorter than said shank, a sharply curved neck member connecting the root ends of said shank and leg, said shank and leg inclining toward each other in the direction of their free ends and being normally in contact only adjacent the free end of said leg, a pin projecting forwardly from the inner surface of the neck between the shank and leg for a part of their length, the width of the pin being less than the width of the neck member and the adjacent ends of the shank and leg, and a plurality of projections on the inner surfaces of the shank and leg adjacent to and forwardly of the outer end of said pin.

3. A resilient hair curling pin comprising an elongated shank curved to conform generally to the shape of the head, a leg shorter than said shank, a sharply curved neck member connecting the roots of said shank and said leg, a plurality of projections on the inner face of said shank, a plurality of projections on the inner face of said leg arranged in staggered relation to and spaced from those on the shank longitudinally of the pin, said shank and leg inclining toward each other in the direction of their free ends and being normally in contact only adjacent the free end of said leg, said projections diminishing gradually in height toward the free ends of said shank and leg, and said shank and leg diminishing in width toward their free ends.

4. A resilient hair curling pin comprising an elongated shank curved to conform generally to the shape of the head, a leg shorter than said shank, a sharply curved neck member connecting the roots of said shank and said leg, a plurality of projections on the inner face of said shank, a plurality of projections on the inner face of said leg arranged in staggered relation to and spaced from those on the shank longitudinally of the pin, said shank and leg inclining toward each other in the direction of their free ends and being normally in contact only adjacent the free end of said leg, said projections diminishing gradually in height toward the free ends of said shank and leg, and being of diminishing cross section toward their tops and having rounded tops.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 719,697 Schutz Feb. 3, 1903 720,515 Erikson Feb. 10, 1903 748,278 Goldberg Dec. 29, 1903 784,008 Newlin Feb. 28, 1905 1,337,039 Bruder Apr. 13, 1920 1,450,239 Bechtold Apr. 3, 1923 1,787,393 Natkiel Dec. 30, 1930 1,802,133 Blanchard Apr. 21, 1931 1,848,771 Davis Mar. 8, 1932 2,261,825 Brainard Nov. 4, 1941 2,403,601 Jackson July 9, 1946 2,531,024 Bolinger Nov. 21, 1950 2,536,448 Klar Jan. 2, 1951 2,614,570 Hall Oct. 21, 1952 

